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Ask HN: Has anyone successfully renegotiated an AWS non-compete?

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Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully renegotiated an AWS non-compete?

#61

Post by monksy »

rsstack wrote: post #52
bqmjjx0kac wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been getting a few emails from Amazon recruiters weekly to both my personal and work emails.

I complained to jeff@ about the spam from recruiters, after emailing them several times to stop contacting me - and even calling the recruiters on the phone once asking them to stop. The final reply in my email thread with them: "I will take a look at these messages and will inform our recruiting team of your concern if these messages are found to be legitimate. Thank you again for sharing your concerns. I wish you w…

I had one message me on linked in, escalate to email, and then escalate to texting within 3 minutes. I didn't know about the priors but the cold text is unacceptable. The guy even tried to justify it by claiming "it's just text mate" and tried to dismiss my request not to be contacted by text if I don't know you.. An email to jeff@ had him apologizing in an hour.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully renegotiated an AWS non-compete?

#62

Post by greyface- »

cmckn wrote: post #60

You're misreading the agreement (unless it's changed significantly very recently). Like any non-compete I've ever seen/signed, it only applies to products/services that: > Employee worked on or supported, or about which Employee obtained or received Confidential Information. Totally fair if you don't want to enter that agreement, but the language is pretty standard.

Amazon can simply argue that all engineers receive Confidential Information about products/services that they did not work on, but were aware of due to company memos, access to internal documentation, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully renegotiated an AWS non-compete?

#63

Post by dbcurtis »

What state are you in? What Amazon can enforce will vary widely from state to state. Ask a lawyer. I had all my non-compete questions about a particular situation covered in one phone call of 45 billable minutes. This does not have to be expensive if you get a specialist in this area of the law.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully renegotiated an AWS non-compete?

#64

Post by harrisonjackson »

rosndo wrote: post #11
harrisonjackson wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The couple of times I've had friends or coworkers deal with non-competes it wasn't an issue of enforceability but rather are the employee AND the new employer willing to deal with it. Both times the new company withdrew its employment offers. It is pretty terrible. It leaves the employee at a company they don't want to be at. This was in Colorado and Texas FWIW

Disclosing such a non-compete to a potential employer is such a dumb move that it’s pretty obvious why they would withdraw their offer. Not because the non-compete is scary, but because the potential new hire is clearly an idiot.

The employee didn't disclose it.

The current employer tracked down the new company after they gave notice, found the hiring manager, and started making threats ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully renegotiated an AWS non-compete?

#67

Post by [deleted] »

csdreamer7 wrote: post #43
brodouevencode wrote: post #2

Generally, are non-competes even enforceable? Especially in industries (like cloud providers) where there is a very small number of players.

Amazon (and Microsoft) already sues former cloud employees. The question is not "is this enforceable?". The real question is "can you afford the legal fees?". 'Amazon is suing a cloud employee who left for Google, rekindling the debate over non-compete agreements' https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/11/aws-case-against-worker-who-...

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully renegotiated an AWS non-compete?

#69

Post by mr_beans »

I got a lawyer to look over mine when I was leaving AWS, not for a direct competitor of the team I was on but for a company that does work in an area Amazon is involved in. Washington state.

His advice was thus: technically I am prohibited from working at this new company; Amazon would need to be aware of my new role to enforce it; courts have expressed criticism of over broad non competes so I could challenge it if it came to that. I was not L7+ so his added advice was basically keep your head down for the next 18 months.

It’s bullshit though, and from now on I will always engage an employment lawyer before signing on anywhere. He looked over my new company’s non competes and they are much more reasonable.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully renegotiated an AWS non-compete?

#70

Post by jwsteigerwalt »

rsstack wrote: post #26
MeNotLawyer wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious then what people do when they leave AWS. Do they just not work for 18 months?

They hope AWS won't enforce it. If you aren't very important (L7+, senior management), and you don't work on the _same exact_ project at a competitor, Amazon will probably not attempt to enforce it. Is it right that Amazon are doing this? Hell, no: they're awful for doing this. But that's not even one of the top-five awful things they do to employees.

It’s very possible you will not ultimately get the next job. Most competent firms that are near competitors will ask if you are bound by a non-compete as part of the recruiting process. Even if ultimately unenforceable, a “yes” could stop you right there. A “no” could be something problematic with the new employer down the road.
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